A few days ago, Li Auto announced on its official Weibo that it has completed the delivery of its 600,000th vehicle to users. This is also the first new Chinese car company to achieve this delivery volume. At the same time, as of December 10, Li Auto has sold 13,000 vehicles this month, ranking first among the new brands in the Chinese market.
As of November, Li Auto has achieved its 2023 sales target of 300,000 units ahead of schedule. In addition, there is news that Li Auto has given sales forecasts to its supply chain companies and that it will achieve its sales target of 800,000 vehicles in 2024. According to Li Auto’s internal plan, it will achieve annual sales of 1.6 million vehicles by 2025.
Some people speculate that the continuously rising sales target may prompt Li Auto to start going overseas earlier. Previously, it was reported that Li Auto plans to start going overseas in 2024. The first markets it will enter are Middle East countries such as the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, and may also include some North African countries. The first batch of overseas models will be the Li Auto L9 and so on. In this regard, the relevant person in charge of Li Auto responded to the reporter of "Daily Economic News": "No comment." Li Xiang, chairman and CEO of Li Auto, once publicly issued a document saying: "Li Auto will not do overseas markets before 2025. , will concentrate all resources to achieve the goal of 2025."
"No overseas market before 2025"
At this stage, some Li Auto models have been sold through parallel exports to the Middle East, Russia, Kazakhstan, etc. country or region. In this regard, Li Xiang once issued an article stating that in the first two weeks of July this year, Li Auto exported more than 200 vehicles in parallel by private parties. After detailed investigation, it was found that these vehicles were mainly exported to Central Asia and the Middle East.
The "private parallel export" mentioned by Li Xiang is an activity led by dealers who are not authorized by the manufacturer. However, unlike new car exports, although the cars sourced by parallel exports are also new cars, the model adopted is that after being registered domestically, they are then exported to overseas markets in the name of second-hand cars. In fact, if a car company wants to carry out authorized exports overseas, it needs to do a lot of preliminary work, involving market research, quality and safety, after-sales service, etc., and the investment is very large. Second-hand cars can be exported to areas not covered by the car company’s authorization system. .
"Li Auto will not authorize any agents or dealers, and will always adhere to the direct sales model." Li Xiang said bluntly that there are no official restrictions on some Li Autos being "privately exported", and at the same time, There are no special prices.
According to a second-hand car dealer, the Ideal L9 series, which sells for about 450,000 yuan in China, once cost nearly 100,000 yuan in some Central Asian countries. It can only be bought for one million yuan. The price of an Ideal L7 series model exported to Kazakhstan is nearly 200,000 yuan more expensive than the domestic starting price.
The hot sales of Ideal's models in the Middle East and Central Asian markets may be the "trigger" for the rumor that "Ideal Auto plans to go overseas in 2024, and the first markets to enter are Middle Eastern countries." Judging from the current official attitude of Li Auto, its overseas plan will be no earlier than 2025. Li Xiang once publicly stated: "Li Auto will not enter the overseas market before 2025, and will concentrate all resources to achieve the goal of 2025."
Li Tie, CFO of Li Auto, also said at the company's 2023 second quarter financial results meeting : "We hope to globalize after China occupies a dominant position... Our products are designed for Chinese users and are still only targeted at China."
Chinese car companies are seizing the Middle East market
According to sources, this year there have been Capital investors from the Middle East and Europe contacted Li Auto and concluded that compared with Europe, the political policies and consumer environment of the Middle East market are more suitable as the first stop for car companies to go overseas.
Although the Middle East is rich in oil and gas resources, it also needs to vigorously promote energy transformation. Currently, countries in the Middle East are actively promoting the development of electric vehicles. For example, Saudi Arabia clearly plans to account for 30% of electric vehicles in its capital Riyadh by 2030. In addition, in terms of consumption environment, statistics show that the per capita GDP of the six Gulf countries will reach US$34,000 in 2022, which is approximately three times the world's per capita GDP. Among them, Qatar's per capita GDP exceeds US$80,000.
The wealthy Middle East has car purchasing power that is coveted by global car manufacturers, including Chinese car companies. "In today's environment of economic globalization and market diversification, the Middle East has become a popular emerging market for Chinese companies to go overseas. The Middle East has huge potential." Shi Qingke, vice president of Great Wall Motors, told reporters that Great Wall Motors will launch many models in the Middle East market next year HEV, EV and other new energy models, and opened the second parts warehouse in the Middle East in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
From the current point of view, the market share of Chinese car companies in the Middle East market is growing. In 2022, Chinese brand cars will sell more than 100,000 vehicles in Saudi Arabia, a year-on-year increase of 22.2%, and a market share of 15%. In addition, the market share of Chinese brand cars in many Middle Eastern countries such as Bahrain and Oman exceeds 10%. Take Great Wall Motors as an example. So far, Great Wall Motors' Haval H6 and Great Wall pickup trucks rank first in sales among Chinese brands in the Middle East compact SUV market and pickup truck segment respectively.
However, Chinese car companies also face many challenges on their way to the Middle East. Shi Qingke said frankly: "For a long time, compared with the long-term accumulation of popularity, acceptance and market share of European, American, Japanese and Korean automobile brands in the Middle East market, Chinese automobile brands still have a certain gap and face challenges."
It is worth noting that when China As car companies expand their market reach to the Middle East, Chinese companies including Weilai, Gaohe Automobile, Benli Automobile, Pony.ai and other Chinese companies have also received the attention of Middle Eastern capital. Some analysts believe that with the help of capital, Chinese car companies will further accelerate their entry into the Middle East market. In addition, Middle Eastern investors expect partners to invest in the construction of new energy vehicle production lines in their countries. With mutual benefit, both parties have great potential. Go both ways."
Daily Economic News
Keywords:INDUSTRY-car,STOCK-ideal car
